[Joe Tape writes about the violence that the text laments "He never recorded" about incidents.]
I do not usually find the time to record my thoughts, but
today has been so troubling that I saw it as necessary to tell someone how
fearful I have become in carrying out the simplest of tasks. For some years now
I have made a good and honest business helping men and women who are new to
this country find a place among the community that we have built here in the
city. Today I was given a jarring and clear message that such practice is no
longer acceptable or safe.
I have not told Mary how difficult this task has become, but
today I feared for my life and those lives that I transported. I am not sure
why I am writing this, or who it is for, but I do not want my children or history
to think that my family’s journey to success was easy. I can recall the many references
to an “American Dream” which so often draws people from my country to these
United States and I often wonder if this is really my dream? Did I travel so
far and work so hard to be spat upon, ridiculed and brutalized for seeking out
an honest living? Is this the world I wish to raise children in, where they
will be told they are less-than or inherently inferior? My boys will not be
“coolies” and my daughters will not be prostitutes, but will other American’s
ever see that?
Yes I feared for my safety today, but I also feared that the
dream I have been chasing might be in vain.
This may be one of the last times I will write on this
topic, but this anxiety will not end that the “dream” that is so often promised
was never meant for me or people like me.
Although an image from Denver, this contemporary image illustrates the use of violence that would spur Joe to fear for his life and family's future
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